A private zoo in Tainan’s Madou District (麻豆) is to close for good in January next year, with the owner complaining that the newly revised Animal Protection Act will make his business too challenging to run.
“It is a painful decision,” Madou Crocodile King Zoo owner Chiu Hsi-ho (邱鍚河) said yesterday.
Once the revisions to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) take effect on Jan. 23 next year, it will be increasingly difficult for small-scale private zoos to survive, Chiu said.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
Chiu said the laws will become much stricter than when he started his business nearly 40 years ago, making it impossible for him to continue operating.
The death of a male hippopotamus named “A-ho” (阿河) late last year at another private zoo in Taichung triggered a public outcry over the treatment of animals at such zoos, prompting lawmakers to amend the Animal Protection Act.
The revision, passed on Jan. 23, stipulates that an “animal show vendor” must have a license prior to opening for commercial operation.
A-ho, who had been a long-time favorite with tourists that flocked to its home at Taichung’s Skyzoo recreational farm, died on Dec. 29 last year, apparently from injuries sustained when it jumped from a moving truck and later fell a second time while suspended in mid-air over a pond at a farm in Miaoli where it was supposed to be treated.
A nearly 40-year-old crocodile, named “Xiao He” (小河), is a star animal at Chiu’s zoo.
At a length of 5.8m and a weight of 1,250kg, Xiao He has been “trained” by Chiu to “perform” in the zoo’s regular animal shows, Chiu said.
It even allowed visitors to sit on its back for photographs, he said.
Xiao He has drawn many business opportunities for the zoo, Chiu said.
Apart from the crocodile, Chiu’s zoo is also known for keeping “unusual” animals, such as a turtle with three heads, a crocodile without a tail and featherless chickens.
However, over the past few years, his shows have been blasted by animal protection groups, who accuse Chiu of abusing his animals.
His zoo has been singled out as one of Taiwan’s top 10 worst animal farms, he said, adding that “it made me feel terribly bad,” since he has always spared no efforts in attending to the “rare animals” he keeps.
Chiu said he had never violated the existing act and that he has taken many measures to improve his zoo.
However, the regulations are becoming increasingly strict, thanks to increasing awareness of animal welfare.
“It is almost impossible for a small zookeeper to follow them,” Chiu said.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
RSS